Yvonne Marie Louise Simon (nee Hémart) was a French racing driver who participated in

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

, circuit races and endurance racing.

Biography

Yvonne Marie Louise Simon (née Hémart) was born on 6 December 1910 in

Charmont-sous-Barbuise Charmont-sous-Barbuise () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aube Departments of France, department, north central France. Château de Charmont-sous-Barbuise The château of Charmont-sous-Barbuise was originally a fortified manor house ...

, France. Other sources incorrectly report that she was born in 1917, in Troyes, Champagne-Ardenne or on 6 December 1906 in Charmont, Aube, France. Simon died on 16 August 1992 in

Saint-Martin-de-Ré Saint-Martin-de-Ré (, literally ''Saint-Martin of Ré''; Saintongeais: ''Sént-Martin-de-Ré'') is a commune in the western French department of Charente-Maritime.

Racing career

Simon's racing career spanned the years from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. One of her earliest racing appearances was in the 1937

Rallye Paris – Saint-Raphaël Féminin The Rallye Paris – Saint-Raphaël Féminin was a car rally in France exclusively for female participants. It was held over a 45-year period beginning in 1929 with a hiatus during World War II. The race was typically scheduled for the end of Febr ...

. Although she did not win in 1937, she placed second on her first attempt and would go on to win this event four times, finishing first in the last race held prior to World War II in 1939, and in three consecutive events after the war in 1952, '53, and '54. Simon won the first running of a new event arranged in 1939. Racing drivers Anne-Cécile Itier and Jean Delorme formed the Union Sportive Automobile (USA). The USA launched a one-make racing series for women to be held prior to major Grand Prix events. On 11 June 1939 Simon won the inaugural race in the Championnat féminin de l'Union Sportive Automobile driving a

Renault Juvaquatre The Renault Juvaquatre () is a small family car / compact car automobile produced by the French manufacturer Renault between 1937 and 1960, although production stopped or slowed to a trickle during the war years. The Juvaquatre was produced as ...

on the Péronne circuit prior to the running of the Picardy Grand Prix. Simon made two appearances at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

endurance race, driving a 2 L

Ferrari 166 Ferrari used its 2 L (1995 cc/121 in3) V12 engine in a number of models, all called 166 for the displacement of a single cylinder. Most early 166es were sports cars built for racing, though a later line of GT cars launched the compan ...

MM both times.

Racing record

Circuit racing

Grand Prix of Riems * 1952 — Drove a 166 MM Ferrari to eighth place overall and fourth in class.

Bari Grand Prix The Bari Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix road race, held in Bari, Italy, between 1947 and 1956. The course was and, except for 1956, was run in an anticlockwise direction. In 1953 the race was not contested. Winners Bari ...

* 1952 — Held on 28 September, Simon drove

MM #0018M to a thirteenth place finish.

Monza Grand Prix The Monza Grand Prix (Italian: ''Gran Premio di Monza'') was an automobile race held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza at Monza, Italy. Following the terrible accident during the 1928 Italian Grand Prix, where Emilio Materassi and 27 spect ...

* 1953 — Held on 29 June, Simon and Ferrari 166 MM #0018M rebodied as a Zagato Spyder finished eleventh overall; fourteenth in Heat 1 and eleventh in Heat 2. Nimes Grand Prix * 1954 — Held on 11 April. Simon took her 750 cc Panhard-Monopole to a fourth-place finish.

Rallys

Rallye Paris - Saint-Raphaël Féminin: * 1937 — Drove a 3.5 L Hotchkiss 686 Grand Sport to a second place finish. * 1939 — First place in a Hotchkiss 686 Grand Sport. * 1951 — Held from 26 to 28 February. Drove a 2.0 L

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

166MM. * 1952 — Held from 27 February to 2 March. First place in an 1100 cc

Renault 4CV The Renault 4CV (french: quatre chevaux, as if spelled ''quat'chevaux'') is a rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive, 4-door economy supermini manufactured and marketed by the French manufacturer Renault from August 1947 through July 1961. It was the ...

. * 1953 — Held from 18 to 22 February. First place in an 1100 cc Renault 4CV. * 1954 — Held from 3 to 7 March. First place in a 750 cc Panhard-Monopole.

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

Rally * 1938 — Held from 4 to 6 February. Won the Coupe des Dames in a Hotchkiss

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

* 1938 — co-driver Suzanne Largeot, in a Hotchkiss 686 Grand Sport (), 2^e de la Coupe des Dames du Monte-Carlo (same co-driver, same car). * 1939 — co-driver Suzanne Largeot, in a Hotchkiss 686 Grand Sport (), ''Coupe des Dames''. * 1951 — co-driver Régine Gordine, in a

Simca 8 The Simca 8 is a small family car built by Simca and sold in France between November 1937 and 1951 (including wartime), available as a saloon, coupé or cabriolet. It was a rebadged Fiat 508C "nuova Balilla" made at Fiat's Simca plant in Nanter ...

Sport.

Endurance racing

Paris 12 Hours * 1938 — On 11 September Simon finished eighth with co-driver Suzanne Largeot in an 1100 cc

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was ...

* 1949 — On 10 July Simon partnered with Germaine Rouault in a

Delahaye Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation with two unrelated brothers-in-law as equal partners in 1898. The compa ...

Delage Delage was a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953. On 7 November 2019, the association "Les Amis de Dela ...

. The pair finished eleventh overall with a first in the T4.0 class.

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

— Driving 2 L V12 Ferrari 166 MM

berlinetta A berlinetta (from it, berlinetta; ) is a sports coupé, typically with two seats but also including 2+2 cars. The original meaning for ''berlinetta'' in Italian is “little saloon”. Introduced in the 1930s, the term was popularised by Ferr ...

#0042M for

Luigi Chinetti Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two ...

with teammate Michel Kasse. Retired, out of fuel. *

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

— Driving 2 L V12 Ferrari 166 MM berlinetta #0042M for Chinetti with teammate Betty Haig. Fifteenth overall.

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

* 1951 — Drove Ferrari 166 MM Spider Vignale #0072E with teammate Alberico Cacciari to ninetieth place overall.

12 Hours of Reims The 12 Hours of Reims (official name: 12 Heures internationales de Reims) were a sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series held from 1953 to 1967 at the Reims-Gueux, Reims (Gueux) circuit in the Marne district of the Champa ...

* 1953 — Simon and co-driver Jean Hémard drove their 750 cc Panhard-Monopole to a fourteenth place finish. * 1954 — Simon and teammate

Jean de Montrémy Jean Waldruche de Montrémy (1913–1998) was a French industrialist, racing driver, motorsport official, and race car designer. Biography Jean de Montrémy was born on 18 May 1913. He completed his education at Reims, and also officiated at ...

entered a 750 cc Panhard-Monopole, but did not finish due to an accident.

Bol d'Or The Bol d’Or is a 24-hour endurance race for motorcycles, held annually in France. The riding of each bike is now shared by a team of three riders. History The Bol d’Or, first organized by Eugene Mauve, in 1922, was a race for motorcycles ...

* 1955 — Drove a 750 cc Panhard-Monopole with teammate de Montrémy to a tenth place finish.

Photo gallery

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Yvonne 1992 deaths French female racing drivers French rally drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers French racing drivers Female rally drivers